Dark Moon
by mf14
Summary: The vampires announced themselves a year ago and Bella Swan had yet to see one until she meets Edward. Edward warns her they are not nice, but Bella thinks otherwise until one day she realizes maybe he was right. Bella/Edward Rated: T
1. Chapter 1

**So first off, yes, I borrowed the synthetic blood idea from True Blood (which, by the way, is an AWESOME show). Unfortunately, I can't think of a cool name for it. So if anyone while reading this or just in general can think of something, please message me. I'm up for ideas and I'm sure there are plenty of more creative people than me lol**

**I hope you guys like this!**

**Disclaimer: Belongs to Stephenie Meyer**

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I hated Forks, Washington. It rained constantly, was too small, and the only view I got from outside my house was forest. Not exactly exciting. And did I mention it rains? All the time. There isn't one day that goes by it doesn't freaking rain. Stupid town. I miss Phoenix, at least there was actually sun out there. Here, I'm not sure if there is a sun anymore.

My mother, Renee, forced me to move here after she and my father, Charlie, had reconciled. I wasn't holding my breath. Renee was too childish and Charlie was too serious. I never saw how they got together in the first place. Anyway, they forced me to move back here when I was 16. That was five years ago, and I still hated every second of living here. My parents were still together for now, but I was still waiting for that to go downhill any second.

"Bella! Do you want some dinner?" My mother called.

I sighed. "Yeah mom."

I closed the magazine I was reading with the fake, too skinny girl on the cover and threw it in the trash on the way downstairs. Charlie had never moved out of the house they had lived in when they first got married, and I still had the same room I did back then. The wall paint was white (boring) and the room only consisted of a bed, a stereo, and a computer desk my father had put in when we moved back. He had even gotten me a laptop, but bribery doesn't work on me.

Renee smiled at me as I walked into our small kitchen and sat down at the table.

"I hope you're hungry." She said cheerfully.

"I am." I replied.

Charlie, who would kill me if I called him that to his face, walked in then. My father was chief of police in Forks, so when my mother and I had moved in, we were the talk of the town for awhile. It had been quite annoying to be stared at and whispered about, but I had just chosen to ignore it. High school was never my thing anyway.

"Hello Charlie!" She said happily, grinning like a child promised ice cream.

Charlie smiled and kissed her cheek. I tried not to roll my eyes. "Hello darling. Bella."

"Hi." I replied as I dug into the meatloaf my mother had cooked.

"How was work?" Renee asked as he sat down.

"It was alright, kind of quiet."

How surprising for a small town like this. I tuned them out as I looked at my parents. Every one said I looked like my mother, but I always thought I looked more like my father. My mother had a longer face than I did, short brown hair and wide brown eyes. She was looking rather pale nowadays, since we saw no sun ever. Charlie had short brown hair also, cut short to his head and brown eyes. He was quiet and didn't talk much, unlike my mother who could talk your ear off. I took after my father with the talking thing I figured.

"So then she told us that her husband had just completely passed her, not paying attention at all!" My mother was saying.

I tuned them out again and looked out the window at, surprise, trees. While the green was a nice change from practically living in the desert, it got old after awhile.

Finally, I finished my dinner and excused myself. I don't think my mother had stopped talking or even noticed as I got up and headed back upstairs. I walked into the bathroom and took a bath to have something to do. Another thing about living in a small town, there was never anything to do. Ever. We always had to find our own things to do, and that wasn't always easy. Or legal.

After my bath, I put my long, brown hair up in a towel to try and looked at myself in the mirror. I knew I had plain features: plain brown eyes, plain nose, plain small mouth. As soon as the novelty of me being the new girl had worn off, the guys hadn't paid a bit of attention to me in school. But I hadn't cared much, the boys were too immature and only interested in one thing. Not like that ever changes as they grow up though.

After washing my face and teeth, I headed back into my bedroom and opened my laptop. I signed onto the internet and saw one of the only people I still kept in contact with from high school, my best friend Halleigh Woods, was on Yahoo Messenger.

_Hey._

Ah the technology of talking to someone from your computer.

_Hey Hal. What's up?_

_Not much. You?_

_  
Same. Avoiding the parents._

Ha ha. Why am I not surprised?

_I know._

_You wanna go to Port Angeles with me tomorrow?_

_  
Why not._

_You're not working?_

_Nope thankfully._

Cool. Pick you up at 2.

_K._

I talked to Halleigh for another ten minutes before signing off. I never could stand being on the computer for very long. After turning off my computer, I grabbed a book from the mess on my floor and opened it to where I was. I stretched out on my tan bedspread and escaped to a fantasy world of where the only problems were what the girl was going to wear to prom. If they only knew.

I was just finishing putting my hair back in a ponytail when the doorbell sounded through the house. I headed down the stairs where Charlie was in the living room, about to get up.

"It's Halleigh, I'll get it."

"Where are you two headed?" He asked.

I rolled my eyes. Since he didn't have any criminals to interrogate, he chose to do that to me.

"Port Angeles for some shopping."

"Be safe." He told me, raising his eyebrows slightly.

"I will. Bye." I told him and opened the door.

Halleigh had long, blonde hair and bright blue eyes. She was an inch or two taller than I was, but we were about the same size. She was mostly always happy and cheery, which always made me wonder how we became friends in the first place.

"Ready to go?" She asked, showing her perfectly straight and white teeth.

"Yep." I replied, grabbing my purse.

I followed her to her black Mustang convertible, a gift from her doctor father, and climbed in. The tan leather upholstery stuck to the back of my legs. Why did I wear shorts? I frowned as I moved my legs so they wouldn't stick so much and looked over. Halleigh who was wearing a bright green t-shirt and khaki shorts smiled at me.

"Don't start. I don't want to hear your bitching today."

I rolled my eyes. "You'll hear it anyway."

"Somehow I'm not surprised." She replied as she pulled out of the driveway and headed to the neighboring town.

Forks was so small, the most we had was a couple of restaurants, so we always had to travel to Port Angeles to do anything. Luckily, it wasn't very far away.

"So Mike called me last night." Halleigh said, breaking our silence as she drove.

"What'd he want?"

"He said he missed me and blah, blah, blah." Halleigh rolled her eyes.

"Please." I replied with a sigh.

Mike Newtown was Halleigh's on again, off again boyfriend. Right now they were off, but he still called her all the time. He was quite annoying.

"You know you should really date one of his friends, he's got a couple of nice ones."

"I bet." I snorted.

"He does, Bella. You should hang out with us sometime and meet them."

"I think I'm alright." I replied. "Does this mean you guys are dating again?"

"I don't know. I'm supposed to hang out with him tomorrow."

"Halleigh." I sighed.

"I know, Bella, but he really is a good guy when you get to know him."

"If you say so."

"I do." She said.

We arrived in Port Angeles a few minutes later and she stopped at the local mall. I frowned as I unstuck myself from her leather seats and grabbed my purse as we headed inside. We went into all the shops, Halleigh having to try something on at every store. She even forced me to try on clothes too, though I hated trying on clothes.

"Let's get some dinner." Halleigh announced a few hours later.

Looking at my watch, I saw it was past seven already. I nodded. "Sounds good."

We ate in the mall, getting a table and eating as we walked everyone walk by us. Every time a couple would walk by, Halleigh would sigh sadly and watch them with envy.

"Just get back with Mike already." I told her.

"You just don't know what it's like, Bella. It's hard to have someone there one day, and then the next day they aren't."

"I guess." I shrugged.

We finished our food before heading into yet another shop. Halleigh ran into a friend she knew and I decided to take that time to walk around the mall by myself. I walked into the CD store, spying a group of boys looking at me and looking away once I caught them. I rolled my eyes and kept looking at the CDs until I got bored and headed out. Next door was a gadget store and I saw the group of boys again. Ignoring them, I walked out after looking around and headed into a clothing store Halleigh hadn't hit yet.

When I noticed the group of boys were there again, I walked out, trying not to walk too quickly. Experimentally, I walked into a lingerie store and sighed in relief when they didn't follow me. Of course, when I walked out, there they were standing in front of a different store. I tried not to look back as I walked past people, but I couldn't help but sneak a glance or two. The boys were still behind me and I could feel my heart starting to pound in my chest. Everywhere I went, they followed. I had no idea what they could possibly want from me, but I was too much of a coward to turn around and demand an answer.

Running out of places to go, I walked out the doors into the parking lot. It was already dark and as I walked, I realized this was probably not the smartest thing I had ever done. It wasn't like I had drove there, so getting in a car and speeding away was not happening. Not to mention, Halleigh was still there , and I wouldn't just leave her anyway. Oh yeah, Halleigh. Why didn't I think of just going back to where she was anyway?

I turned around once I crossed the parking lot only to find the group of boys still behind me. I started walking faster and heard their footsteps pick up as well. I was almost full out running by the time I reached different buildings, and cursed the fact I never stayed in shape. I wasn't paying attention to where I was going, definitely not looking at street signs, and I only prayed I didn't get lost. The traffic seemed to thin out as I kept walking, but I didn't have time to think about that. The boys were still behind me, though they seemed to be keeping a distance. What did these people want from me? I swallowed at the possibility of what it could be, and forced myself to keep going, even though I was already tired.

As I passed a space between buildings, I cursed realizing it was a dead end alley. Definitely didn't want to go there. I was thinking about jumping out in front of a car to get help, but I also didn't want to risk getting hurt. Charlie would have a heart attack. Of course, if he knew about this he would definitely be freaking out and never let me leave the house again.

I turned quickly, stealing a glance behind me and seeing the guys were still a distance away, but where they could still see me. Behind these buildings were trees, which didn't surprise me, but was actually a relief. I could hide from them in there. When I heard their footsteps echo off the buildings, I turned and ran into the forest. My heart was pounding in my chest with adrenaline and I was almost gasping for breath, but I didn't care. I needed to get away from them.

It was dark and hard to see and I tripped over practically invisible branches and other things. I only succeeded in going a few feet before I finally fell over a huge fallen branch with a grunt. I laid there for a few seconds, my knees and palms were aching when I landed on them, and I was sure I cut my hand. I held my right hand over my left, the injured one, but when I heard branches break behind me, I knew I had to move. Jumping up, I tried to get moving. The wind from when I ran was causing my vision to blur, making it even harder for me to see than previously. Luckily, it was a full moon, and the moon light did help a little. But not much.

Suddenly, and out of nowhere, a hand reached out and grabbed me around the waist. When I went to scream, another hand covered my mouth.

"Shh." The person whispered in my ear.

My heart was pounding in my ears, making it hard for me to hear, but a few seconds later, I heard leaves rustling. I tensed against the person who held me and they held me tighter. I tried to calm my breathing, but it was hard. Finally, when my heart and my breathing started to slow, I could hear better. I heard muffled voices that sounded farther away than they were previously. The hand was taken off my mouth and I was let go. I let out a breath of relief and turned around, my eyes widening.

The man in front of me was taller than I was by a few inches and had wild, tousled bronze hair that gleamed in the moonlight. It didn't occur to me until that moment that the hand that had covered my mouth had been ice cold.

Vampire.

The vampires had made themselves known the year before after rumors of their existence had been circulating. After a women had shown a local TV crew pictures of one, fangs out and all, the vampires were left no choice but to admit they existed. They had been met with some animosity and some were accepting. There had also been lots of protests against businesses who had welcomed the vampires, but unfortunately for the protesters, it was against the law to not serve them.

"They are gone now." The man said, his voice velvety smooth.

I nodded slowly, still unable to take my eyes off of him. I realized it was impolite to stare and forced myself to talk.

"Thank, thank you." I breathed, still slightly out of breath.

"Do not thank me." He replied.

"I don't understand why they were after me." I told him.

He looked away. "I do not think you would want to know why." I shivered. I had some idea. He looked back at me. "Are you cold?"

"No."

He was staring at me, even in the dark I could tell he was, but it didn't make me uncomfortable like I thought it might. I was surprised to find I was as comfortable talking to him as I was any other human. Of course, he wasn't human at all.

"You cut your hand." He noticed. I pressed my palm into my leg, hoping he wouldn't go after me or something. "I will not hurt you."

Strange enough, I believed him. "What's your name?"

"Edward."

"I'm Bella."

We were silent again. I wished I could get a better glimpse of him under light. I was curious to see what he really looked like.

"You are not afraid?" He asked.

"No." I said, shaking my head.

"You know what I am." It was more of a statement than a question.

"A vampire."

"Yes. You should be afraid."

"But I'm not."

"I do not understand. Most humans, they run away when they see us."

"Well I'm not like most humans."

Silence again. I was so fascinated by this man, I didn't want to leave. Even if he was a dangerous creature of the night that could kill me before I could blink.

"You should go. Someone might be looking for you."

Halleigh. That's right.

"Yes I guess I should. Thank you for saving me."

"It would be wise to stay out of the woods. There are worse creatures out there than those boys with sick minds. Other vampires might not be as kind."

"But don't you guys have a fixed diet?"

"That doesn't quite quench our thirst like a human." Edward told me. I could see he was smiling wryly.

I decided I didn't want to dwell on that and sighed as I looked around. "I don't even know how to get back."

"I will take you if you would like."

"That would be very nice of you, Edward." I said, smiling at him.

I followed him through the woods, glad he kept a pace I could follow. I heard vampires were fast and wondered if it was killing him to have to walk at a human pace, but he didn't seem bothered at all. Finally, we reached a clearing. I was surprised to find out we were behind the mall. I turned to ask how he knew where I needed to go, but shook my head.

"Thank you, Edward." I said to him again.

I could see him better now under the street lights. His skin was extremely pale and I noticed he had intense green eyes. He was very skinny and didn't look like he was much older than 16 when he was turned.

"It was no problem of mine. Stay out of those woods." He told me.

I turned when I saw a car's headlights, but when I turned back around, he was gone.

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**Reviews are so greatly appreciated! :)**


	2. Chapter 2

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If you're still reading this after the first chapter, thank you! And thank you in advance to anyone who reviews, favorites, and puts this on an alert since I'm posting two chapters together.

**  
Disclaimer: Belongs to Stephenie Meyer**

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I groaned as I shut my alarm clock off with my bandaged hand. It still hurt a little, but not as bad as when I had first hurt it. After I had come back to the mall, I had told Halleigh what happened. She apologized over and over, but I kept telling her it wasn't her fault. I had to lie to Charlie about how I fell in the mud to cover up the mud stains on my pants and the cut on my hand. Luckily for me, he bought it.

After my shower, I got dressed for work. I worked in a local Chili's as a waitress, which barely paid the bills, but hey, it was money and I definitely needed it. Once I was done, I put on my sneakers and headed downstairs.

"Bye mom." I called as I reached the door.

"Bye honey, have fun at work."

"Right." I replied as I grabbed my keys. I headed outside to my green Toyota Camry, an upgrade I had paid for after my father had given me a beat up pickup, and climbed in.

Work was slow, only busy during dinner time and then dying down again.. I had been trying to distract myself all day from Edward. I could not stop thinking about the way he looked or how fascinating and mysterious he was. It was my first encounter with a vampire ever and it was very exciting. I couldn't erase the bronze hair that stuck up everywhere or the intense green eyes he had.

After work, there was a part of me that wanted to go back to the forest behind those buildings and look for Edward. I knew it was stupid and I remembered his warning that other vampires might not have been so kind. It was against the law for them to kill humans but it really wouldn't surprise me if they did it anyway. I shrugged on my coat since it was Fall and it was starting to get a little colder. As I walked out to my car, I self consciously looking over my shoulder every five seconds and locked my car door the second I got in.

When I got home, Renee and Charlie were still up. I was hoping to bypass them, but I had no such luck.

"Hi honey, how was work?" Renee asked.

"It was fine, kind of slow."

"No one can afford to eat out right now with the economy the way it is."

I nodded. "I know."

"Well are you getting some hours at least?"

"Kind of, but there aren't many to give."

"You going to be okay to make your car payment?" Charlie asked me.

I nodded again. "I'll be fine."

"If you need help, let us know." Renee told me.

"Thanks, but I'll manage."

After I ate a quick snack, I headed back upstairs to my room. I got on my computer and checked my e-mail, wondering absently if I could look up Edward on the computer. Since I had nothing to go on but a first name, I guessed not. I don't think the vampires had a directory or something. But what did I know?

Finally after an hour or so, I turned off my computer. I decided to take a bath and settled into a bubble bath with a vanilla scent. I laid my head back on the pillow my mom had bought for such occasions and just relaxed. Of course, Edward creeped up into my mind again and no matter how hard I tried, I couldn't shake it. I sighed and finished my bath, letting the water run like a tornado down the drain. I stood in front of the mirror and spent too long brushing my hair. After I had washed my face and brushed my teeth, I headed back into my room, changing into my pajamas and climbed into my bed. I turned off my bedside lamp and sighed, wondering if I would have dreams of Edward.

The next morning, I got up early and headed to work again. It wasn't as busy and I got a lot of little things done I had been asked to do, which had pleased my managers. I once again tried to keep busy to keep Edward out of my mind. I couldn't believe two days later and here I was, still thinking about him. One of the girls had called out of work, so I had volunteered to stay until night.

I was busy so when one of the girls, Sarah, came up to me all excited, I was curious. This was Forks, after all, and barely anything made us excited.

"There are vampires in here!" She whispered.

My eyes immediately went wide. She couldn't mean.. "What?" I asked her softly.

"There's a group of them over at the bar ordering that synthetic blood stuff. I wanna go say hi!"

She started to walk away and I grabbed her arm. "Wait, Sarah!" I hissed.

"What? They aren't gonna hurt me, they can't."

"Actually they could still, but that's beside the point." She looked at me, obviously annoyed I was keeping her from them. I took a deep breath. "Is there one there with like bronze looking hair?"

She nodded. "Yeah." She said, confused.

I swallowed nervously and let go of her arm. One of the customers in my area was trying to get my attention so I walked over to him, put on my best smile, and got him his refill for his soda. After I gave it to him, I checked on all my other customers before heading to the back where the cash register was. I took a deep breath and tried to calm my heart as I got a bill ready for one of the regulars. I took it back to him and smiled.

"Here you go, have a good night."

"Thank you, Bella." He said with a smile.

Once he left, I saw he tipped me a five and pocketed it. I walked back to the register and put away the money. Sarah came over to the register and grinned at me.

"Oh my god they're so cool! They were nice and everything!" She exclaimed.

I smiled and nodded, trying to keep my nervousness to a minimum. Unfortunately, Sarah picked up on it.

"Are you afraid of them?" She asked, cutting herself off mid ramble about how buff the one guy was.

"No."

"Well you're like all nervous and stuff. They aren't gonna do nothing here where there's lots of people."

"I know that." I told her and walked away.

After making sure everyone was okay again, I had nothing else to put off going over there. Of course, I was curious as to who the other people were that were with Edward, and I was nervous to see him again. After all, he had been the star in my dream the night before.

As quietly as I could, I tiptoed around to where the bar was. There sat Edward with a guy on one side and a girl on the other. My heart sank when I saw the girl, and I rolled my eyes at myself. What was I thinking?

"Bella!" Someone called from across the restaurant.

Of course, Edward turned right then. He looked right at me and I could feel my heartbeat quicken. I knew my eyes were wide and my breath was becoming more shallow as we continued to stare at each other. Before I even knew what I was doing, my feet were walking me over to where he was.

"Hi." I said once I reached him.

"Hello." He replied, nodding his head slightly towards me.

The people, or vampires really, with him turned around and I got my first glimpse of them. The guy on his right was a big guy, very buff, probably had been a football player. He didn't look any older than Edward when he had been turned. He had dark brown eyes and when he smiled, he had dimples. I'm sure he was a very popular vampire. The girl on his left was very skinny and pixie like. She had short, chopped black hair and dark brown eyes as well. She smiled at me very friendly like, which I thought was a little weird for a vampire. Aren't they supposed to be scary?

"Um, do you guys need anything?" I asked.

"No we're good." The guy on Edward's right said.

"This is Emmett." Edward said to me, pointing to the big football player. "And Alice." He nodded towards the girl on his left.

"Hi." Alice said cheerfully.

"Hi." I replied.

"What's going on?" Emmett asked with a grin.

"Uh not much." I replied trying to smile. I'm sure it looked more like a grimace as nervous as I was, standing in front of Edward again.

"What's your name?" Alice asked. Edward glared at her. I gave him a confused look before turning back to Alice.

"Bella." I told her.

"Nice to meet you, Bella." She said with a smile.

"You too." I smiled as best I could at her. I was still trying to figure out why Edward had acted so weirdly when she asked what my name was.

"Um, I better get back, you guys enjoy." I smiled at them before turning and walking away. So they probably thought I was crazy now. Great.

"I can't believe we have vampires here!" Sarah said to me softly when I walked back to the register.

"Yeah it's something." I said, trying to seem disinterested. I was still trying to calm my heart from seeing Edward again. And I was curious who the other vampires were that were with him.

"Oh it's so cool! I wonder if they live around here."

"I don't know." I said to her. "I got more customers." I said to her before hurrying away.

I smiled at Megan and Brad Stanley. I had gone to high school with their daughter, Jessica. Though she was not one of my favorite people, I had to be nice regardless.

"Hi what can I get for you?"

"Can I get an ice tea, please?" Megan asked, with a smile so fake I don't see how anyone thought that was real. Their family always thought they were better than everyone.

"I'll take a beer." Brad said.

"Bottle or glass?"

"Bottle."

"I'll be right back."

I spun on my heel and headed back to get their drinks. After I had gotten it for them, I decided to check on my tables and keep busy to keep myself from going back over to where Edward was.

At the end of the night, I gathered my tips and pocketed them. I had done about $200 that night, which wasn't too bad considering how slow it was. Everyone had been busy talking about the vampires all night. Some were excited and some were not too happy and I was glad they all waited until after they had left to voice their opinions. Though I was sure they wouldn't of voiced them in their presence anyway.

Edward and the others had left while I had been busy. I was a little disappointed that Edward hadn't said goodbye, but what had I been expecting?

I said goodnight to everyone who was still there and headed outside to my car. I looked down and grabbed my keys from my purse and when I looked up, I gasped, dropping my keys.

"Edward." I said, putting my hand on my heart.

"Sorry." He apologized. He handed me my keys though I hadn't even seen him grab them or heard them fall.

"Thanks."

"No problem."

"So what are you doing?" I asked.

He shrugged. "I wanted to see if you were okay."

I tried not to be too flattered. "I am, thank you."

"Those boys. They have not come back?"

"No." I shook my head.

"Good." He looked out across the parking lot. "I should have gone after them, but I knew if I had."

He stopped, but I knew where he was going with that. I swallowed nervously. He turned back to look at me and I cleared my throat.

"Well I appreciate you helping me out there, I would've gotten lost if it hadn't been for you."

"No need to thank me." He smiled a real smile at me that time.

"Who were your friends?" I blurted out. I berated myself for being so nosey.

"Oh them? They are..just friends of mine." He shrugged.

I wasn't so convinced, but it was none of my business.

"Oh. Well they seem nice."

"Yes." He nodded. "I try to surround myself with the nice ones." He looked into my eyes. "But there are not very many."

I nodded. "I know that."

"Really, you shouldn't be sitting here talking to me."

"You won't hurt me."

He laughed shortly. "I wouldn't be so sure of that. Just because we say we will not or act like we will not, does not mean we won't. I could kill you before you could even blink."

I swallowed almost audibly. He stared at me as if I was supposed to say something, but what do you say to that? I knew it was true, but still, even as he said that to me, I felt relatively safe around him.

"Um, I better get going." I said to him after a few minutes of silence.

"Okay. Be safe."

"Thank you." I said to him. I unlocked my car and climbed in unsure if I should've said something more to him. I couldn't tell him to be safe too, I mean, I could, but I was certain he could take care of himself. Once I started it and pulled away, he disappeared into the night. I took a deep breath as I headed back to my house.

Renee and Charlie were asleep by the time I got home and I was glad. I was not ready to talk to them about anything. Halleigh was online when I got on my computer and since she heard about the vampires, she wanted me to tell her all about it.

_There's nothing really to tell. They sat at the bar and drank that synthetic stuff. _I told her.

_What did they look like? I wanna know everything!_

_One was a pretty big guy. He was muscular, probably a football player. Pretty cute too. The girl with them was real tiny and had real short black hair. And the last guy has weird bronze hair that looks windblown. He was real skinny too, but he had some muscle._

_Oh that sounds so cool! I wish I could've been there, I can't believe I missed that!_

_It wasn't that interesting, they didn't do anything but sit there._ I told her honestly.

_But still! We've all been waiting for vamps to show up since they announced themselves. _

_I know._

_Aren't you excited?_

Yeah I am.

That wasn't entirely a lie, I had been really excited when I first ran into Edward. Of course, I had been scared too, but mostly intrigued by Edward.

_I hope they stick around so I can see one! I wanna see them sooo bad!_

_Maybe they will. I guess we don't know_. _But you should be careful._

Yeah, yeah mom.

_I'm just saying._

I know Bells. Were they scary looking?

_Nah not really. But you never know with vamps._

Yeah. They're the talk of the town now!

_I'm not surprised. Though that only happened like a few hours ago._

_Yeah but this is a small town and you know how that is._

True.

_Well I better get to bed. Goodnight! You have to call me if you see them again!_

_I will. Night Hal._

_Night Bel._

_  
_Her parents had started calling her Hal when she was a kid, so she started calling me Bel as a joke and it had stuck. I turned off the computer and headed over to my seat by the window. I gasped when I thought I saw someone standing across the street, but when I blinked, they were gone. I shook my head at myself and changed into my pajamas. After I did my nightly routine, I got into bed and pulled out a book to read. I sat cross legged on my bed and opened my book, but couldn't concentrate. After fifteen minutes, I tiptoed back over to my window and looked down again. Nothing. _You're losing it Bella_ I thought to myself. I laughed softly and shook my head as I climbed back into my bed and opened up my book.

It wasn't much longer I heard a thumping downstairs. My heart pounded in my chest as I heard someone rustling around downstairs. I heard more than one voice and pulled my legs up to my chest, too afraid to move. I prayed my door was locked as the footsteps neared my room. I could see their shadows underneath the door and pulled my legs tighter against me. My doorknob turned slowly and the door opened. The figures stepped into my room and I recognized them as the three guys that had followed me out of the mall.

Suddenly, and out of nowhere, Edward burst into my room from the window. He grabbed the first guy and knocked him down quickly. The second guy tried to fight back, punching and kicking at Edward before he grabbed him. He stepped in my line of view and I was glad I didn't see what he did to him then. The third guy was behind Edward then and he had a knife. Edward was still dealing with the second guy so he never saw the guy behind him. The guy lifted the knife and swung at Edward. I screamed.

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	3. Chapter 3

**So..I guess no one could think of a cool name for the synthetic blood? I know there are plenty of people that are WAY more creative than I am! I'm open to anything, just message me. Or leave it in a comment. I currently have no ideas. Anyways, thank you to everyone who read this and reviewed. I really appreciate it. Hope you guys like this chapter, I'm already working on the next one so it should be up soon.**

Disclaimer: Characters belong to Stephenie Meyer

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I woke up with a gasp, my heart racing in my chest. It took me a second to realize that had all been a horrible dream and once I came to grips with that, my heart slowed down. I took a few deep breaths and ran my hand through my hair. Looking over at my clock, I noticed it was just past six in the morning. I had gotten at least seven hours of sleep, and I was sure there was no way I was going back to sleep now. Reluctantly, I got up from bed and headed into the bathroom.

Once I was done with my shower, I brushed my hair. I looked at myself in the mirror and frowned at the circles under my eyes. I put on a little bit of make up to hide it and headed downstairs. Renee and Charlie were both gone for the day and I was glad. I got myself a bowl of cereal and sat at the kitchen table, staring out towards the forest as I ate. I had no idea what had sparked that dream. I guess it could've been because Edward had asked me about the boys the night before, but it was weird that I hadn't dreamed about them before this. I shook my head as I carried my bowl to the sink and washed my dish before putting it in the dishwasher.

I decided to keep myself busy and since it was my day off, I had to find things to do. I started by cleaning and reorganizing my room. I turned the music on loud to drown out my thoughts as I cleaned out my closet first. I found lots of old shirts I hadn't worn in forever and threw them into my Goodwill pile. I had my keep pile, which was pretty small, but that was good because my closet wasn't very big and had been crammed for a while. After I was done with that, I headed downstairs to grab a trash bag and filled it with my clothes for Goodwill.

I put away the keep pile and put the garbage bag in the back of my closet to take to Goodwill one day. I wiped the sweat from my forehead and decided to dust and vacuum next. Once I was done with that, I had nothing else to do. My room was spotless, though that probably wouldn't last long. I put the vacuum back and the duster back in the hall closet and looked at the clock as I passed. I sighed when I saw it was only 9:45. That hadn't killed as much time as I had hoped so I decided to pick up around the living room and kitchen. Renee never let it get messy so it didn't take me very long to do that.

By the time I had run out of things to do, I needed another shower. I headed in there to kill some more time and let out a cry of frustration when I headed back into my room after and saw it was almost 11. I was hoping I had killed a little more time than that, but four hours was pretty good. I was, surprisingly, not tired and I decided to head into town. I threw my hair back into a ponytail and threw on a pair of jeans and green t-shirt before heading to Port Angeles to the mall. I walked around for an hour before I remembered this was where I had first seen the boys and I suddenly became panicked.

I stopped to get some food around lunchtime before doing some more shopping. I did look over my shoulder once or twice, but I decided not to let those guys get to me. What were the chances I would see them again?

My phone rang a couple of hours later and I fished it out of my pocket. Halleigh flashed back at me.

"Hey." I said.

"Hey. What are you up to?"

"Doing some shopping."

"Where you at?"

"Port Angeles."

"Oh I was just headed there. We should grab dinner tonight."

"You're not working?"

"Nah thankfully. You?"

"Nope."

"Awesome. So I'll meet you at the mall. I'm on the way now."

"Cool. I'll wait for you in the food court."

"K. See ya in a few."

"Bye."

I put my phone back in my pocket and looked around the store I was in for a few more minutes. Knowing how fast Halleigh drives, I was sure she'd be there in 10 minutes so I bought a plain hot pink shirt I had and headed out to the food court.

Sure enough, Halleigh arrived 10 minutes later. She was wearing a baby blue low cut tank top and tight skinny jeans. She smiled at me.

"Hiya Bells."

"Hey Hal."

"What'd you buy me?"

I rolled my eyes. "Nothing. This is just a pink shirt I saw."

"Sweet. I wanna buy something."

"Why am I not surprised?" I chuckled.

"Come on, I saw something in this store last time we were here I really liked."

And then I was dragged against my will to a store she wanted to go to. For the next two hours, Halleigh dragged me around and spent more than I make in a paycheck.

After a while, we went to a local Italian restaurant for dinner. After we got seated and got out drinks Halleigh looked around.

"I wonder if anyone here is a vampire." She whispered to me.

I chuckled as I played with my straw. "I doubt that."

"You never know." She said and then looked at me. "Oh that's right, you saw them! And I heard you talked to them."

I shrugged. "I was just seeing if they needed anything. Actually, one of them is the one that saved me from those boys that followed me."

Her eyes went wider. "Wow. That's crazy a vampire saved you. You would think it would've been the other way around."

"I know."

"So what was he like?"

"He seemed nice enough, I guess." I shrugged, looking down at the table.

"Oh my god."

"What?" I asked, looking up at her.

"You like him!" She exclaimed.

This time, my eyes went wide. "What? Halleigh what the hell are you talking about?" I asked in a hushed tone so no one around us would hear.

"You think I don't know you, Bella? I know when you like someone."

"I don't, I don't even know him." I stammered. Dammit. I hated when I did that.

"You do! Awe! Now I really wanna see him!"

"Halleigh you have no idea what you're talking about."

"Yes I do, don't lie to me. I know when you're lying. See, your face is turning red."

I could feel my cheeks heat up and hated the fact I was such a bad liar. I looked down at the table, unable to look at her.

I was glad when our food arrived ten minutes later to break the awkwardness that had taken over. I couldn't look at Halleigh without blushing so I kept my head on my plate as I ate. I didn't like him, did I? No. I couldn't like Edward whatever his last name was. See, I didn't even know his last name, how could I like him? No I was sure I was just fascinated with the fact we had our first vampire. Yes, that was it.

We finished the rest of our dinner in silence. I was still thinking over what Halleigh had said, and denial seemed to be the first reaction to it.

"I guess I shouldn't of said anything." Halleigh said with a sigh after the waiter had taken our plates.

I shrugged. "It's no big deal. I mean, it's not true."

"Sure Bells." Halleigh chuckled. "You keep telling yourself that."

"So how's Mike?" I asked.

"Oh nice change of topic." She smiled. I rolled my eyes. "We're not talking."

"Why?"

"He took out that whore Jessica Stanley yesterday and tried to lie to me about it. Casey saw them."

I rolled my eyes again. "Wow."

"Yeah so if he wants that I'm over him."

"Sure." I replied. She said that before.

"I'm serious. Actually I've kind of been talking to Casey."

"Awe!" I exclaimed. "He's a good guy. And he's liked you for awhile."

"He is a great guy. A lot better than Mike."

"A definite upgrade." I agreed. "So you like him?"

She smiled and nodded. "Yeah."

"Awe!"

She laughed and rolled her eyes. "Shut up."

After we paid the bill, we got up and headed back to the mall where are cars were. I looked at my watch.

"Wow. Nine already. I'm surprised Charlie hasn't called me yet."

"I know. Mr. Overprotective."

"That's for sure." I said with a sigh. "I guess I better head home.

"See you later."

"Yeah drive safe."

"I will mother." I rolled my eyes. "You too."

"Bye Hal."

I got into my car and turned on the heat since it was cold. I hummed along with the radio as I drove back to my parents house. Once I arrived, I got out of my car and headed inside. Renee and Charlie were sitting in the living room and smiled at me.

"Hi honey. How was shopping?" Renee asked.

I took that as they got the note I had left so they wouldn't worry.

"It was okay."

"What'd you buy?"

"Just a shirt. It was on sale."

"Oh that's cool. Did you eat?"

"Yeah I met Halleigh there. We ate at that Italian restaurant in town."

"Oh that sounds good."

"It was." I told her.

They made small talk for a few more minutes with me until I finally could escape and go upstairs. After I had changed, washed my face, and brushed my teeth, I walked back into my room, grabbed my book and sat down on the bench in front of my window. It was pitch dark out so I couldn't see anything, which was good and bad to me. I opened my book and decided to just concentrate on that.

I finally got tired an hour later and put my bookmark in my book before setting it on my end table. I looked over at the clock and yawned as I noticed it was past eleven and climbed into bed. I feel asleep seconds after my head hit the pillow

The next day, I had to work. During the morning, I did odds and ends until it was time to leave. I smiled at Sarah as I clocked in and grabbed my apron with a notepad in it.

"Hey."

"How's it going?" I asked her.

She shrugged. "It's pretty quiet in here."

"What time do you get off?"

"Eight. What about you?"

"Ten."

Someone in my section called me over. "I better get over there."

"See ya around." Sarah replied.

It picked up around six, like always. I was pretty busy making sure everyone was happy and didn't even notice Edward had come in until I noticed everyone else started whispering and looking around. I turned around and smiled when I saw Edward sitting at a table in my section.

"Well hi there."

Edward smiled. "Hello."

"What can I get for you?"

"Can I get a bottle of that synthetic blood?"

"You sure can. One bottle coming right up." I smiled at him before turning back around and heading for the kitchen.

"Oh my god I can't believe that vampire is here again!" Sarah said as she followed me into the kitchen.

"I know."

"I wonder what he wants."

I shrugged as I grabbed the bottle from the fridge and put it in the microwave. "I don't know."

"You're so lucky he came to your section! I would be so nervous to talk to him. Isn't he creepy?"

"No not at all." I took the bottle out when the timer went off. "He seems nice."

I walked back out onto the floor and over to Edward. I set the bottle in front of him and smiled. "There you go."

"Thank you." He nodded towards me with a smile before picking it up and taking a sip.

"Is there anything else you need?"

"I was actually wondering if I could talk to you."

"Bella!" Someone called.

I turned quickly and nodded before turning back to Edward. "I have a break at seven. Can you hang out till then?"

"Sure." He said.

I smiled again before going and helping Karen Conner. She was one of my mother's best friends. She was a typical small town women, nice but could spread gossip as well as the rest of them.

"Hi."

"Hey Bella. How are you doing?" She eyed me carefully.

"I'm fine. What can I get for you?"

"Just get me a diet Coke please."

"Sure. One soda coming right up." I smiled and turned around to leave when Karen grabbed my arm.

"You be careful now around that vampire." She said softly, looking over to make sure he wasn't paying attention.

"I can take care of myself, Karen, but thank you." I replied.

"They are very dangerous. I don't think your parents would approve of you hanging around one."

"All I'm doing is serving a customer. It's my job and it's against the law to not serve them." I said angrily before spinning on my heel and heading to the back.

"What was that?" Sarah asked.

"She's just being her nosey self." I told her as I grabbed a diet Coke. I took a deep breath to contain my anger and forced a smile on my face as I walked back out. I put the soda in front of her.

"Are you ready to order?" I asked, fake smile still plastered on.

"No I need a few more minutes."

"Alright. You take your time." I told her.

I checked on a few more customers and did a quick glance at Edward's table. I frowned when I didn't see him there anymore. He had told me he was going to stay. I frowned and walked around to the bar to see if he was there. No sign of him. Well, so much for our talk.

I didn't get to take my break until 7:30 and I was more than ready. I took off my apron and told a few of the other waitresses I was going on break before heading outside to my car. It was a really nice night out and I headed over to my car to get something besides Chili's. Once you've had it for awhile, it gets old.

A noise to the right caught my attention and when I turned back around, I gasped when I saw Edward standing beside me.

"Jesus." I breathed.

"Sorry."

"You got to stop doing that."

"I apologize. Are you alright?"

"I'm fine. I thought you left?"

Edward shook his head. "I heard that lady talking to you and decided it would be better if I didn't hang around."

I frowned. "Well don't worry about what all those people have to say. They're just too afraid to get to know you."

"They have every right to be afraid." He said, looking back towards the restaurant.

"Well I don't think they do. I think you're just misunderstood."

He smiled condescendingly. "That's because you just do not know me."

"I don't think you're any different than who you are right here." He shook his head. I sighed. "So what did you want to talk to me about?"

"I was wondering if you would like to go out with me sometime."

I laughed. "You're sitting here telling me how bad you are but you want to ask me out?" I asked disbelievingly.

"Yes."

I shook my head. "That just does not make sense!"

"It would be better if you said no, but I can't," he stopped. "I cannot stop thinking about you."

"Me either." I said softly.

"So are you saying no?"

"No I'm not." I smiled at him. "I would like that. How about we go grab something to eat now?"

"Okay." He said with a smile.

"Would you like to drive?"

He nodded. I walked across the parking lot with him to a silver Volvo. "A Volvo?" I asked out loud.

He turned to look at me. "What?"

"Nothing I guess I just thought vampires would be more flashy."

He chuckled as he opened the door for me. "Some are."

"Thank you." I said as I got into the car.

He closed the door and got into the driver's side before I could even blink. I shook my head before putting on my seatbelt.

"So where would you like to eat?" He asked.

"Um I was just thinking fast food actually. McDonald's sounds good."

"Okay. I would've thought you would want to go to a restaurant."

"Well since I work in one I'm not one for them anymore."

"I'm sure."

I didn't know what to say next, so I just settled for looking out of the window until we arrived. By the time I undid my seatbelt, he was at my door, opening it for me.

"Thank you." I said with a smile.

"My pleasure." He replied.

I followed him into the fast food restaurant and ignored everyone looking at us. I went up to order while he grabbed a table and rolled my eyes at everyone staring and whispering. After getting my food, I sat down across from him and smiled.

"You know everyone's staring at you." I told him as I popped a french fry in my mouth.

He nodded. "I am aware of that."

"Does it bother you?"

He shrugged. "Not particularly. I'm used to the comments since we announced ourselves."

"Yeah I'm sure you hear a lot of rude stuff." I shook my head. "People are so small minded."

"They have every right to be afraid of us. We are scary."

"Maybe but you're nice. And your friends seem nice."

"There are very few of the nice ones." He said, staring into my eyes.

I nodded as I continued eating. "You've told me that before."

"I just want to make sure you know. Just because one is nice to you, doesn't mean they all will be."

"I know." I said. "Why are you so worried about me?"

"You are unusually calm around me. You shouldn't be."

I shrugged. "I don't find you that scary."

"You should."

"Well I don't." I told him with a smile. He gave me a look.

I finished eating and got up to throw my trash away and rolled my eyes at everyone watching my every move.

"Okay I'm done."

Edward nodded and got up swiftly. He opened the door for me and again when we got into his car. He drove back to the restaurant and I turned to him.

"Uh so thanks for taking me out to dinner."

"The pleasure was all mine."

I smiled. "I had fun too. We should do it again sometime."

He nodded. "We should. Can I call you sometime?"

For some reason the thought of a vampire using a cell phone made me laugh. I bit my lip to stop my giggles.

"Sure."

After we exchanged numbers I looked at the clock and saw it was time to go back to work.

"I better get back in there."

"Alright. I will see you later, be safe." Edward told me.

"I will be."

He nodded. "Have a good night."

"Thank you."

I watched as he got into his car and drove away before heading back in to deal with the million questions I was sure were going to come.

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